SSI, CSS, CGI
October 7, 2001
Hello again. I've made some improvements to the site:
First, I've started using server-side includes (SSI). Server-side includes dramatically increases the ease of site maintenance. For example, what if you wanted to change the logo at the top of the page, or replace the cat with a dog? You would have to make the change on each page of the web site- on a site with 20 or 30 pages this can take forever. With server-side includes, you only need to make the change on one page and the entire site is affected. (This is a BIG deal. Trust me!)
I've also started using cascading style sheets (CSS). Style sheets give control over how the webpage looks, and they can be used to create some fairly sophisticated effects. For now I'm using them for simple things like removing the underlines from the links on the left side of the page.
March 1, 2002
Since the middle of December I've been working on a new site called EtToi.com. It represents the culmination of my web-authoring skills, and I'm pleased with the results so far. Some of its cool features are: SSI is used to create random images in the top left corner, CSS is used for interesting effects in several places, and the gators are used as background images for the text links.
Last night I started learning how to set up a guestbook. It was my first experience with CGI, and I expected it to be a complicated and drawn out process, but it turned out to be easy. I reconfigured the .cgi file, uploaded it and the .html page, set the permissions, and it worked! The scary part is that everything made sense to me and I knew what to do. Am I becoming a geek?
